-With AR Flashcards, becoming a major IP company in India

You Need Character is a well-known company.Search results show that they have entered the Indian market, they acquiredfunding, and is led by CEO Min-su Song who is from Iconix who is known forPororo. However, all the articles have different contents. They are ananimation company who created Cricket Pang, as well as a VR technology company,a creator of AR products, and a content provider to the Indian audience.

It seems a bit lacking to describe You NeedCharacter Co. as merely an animation company. We met with CEO Min-su Song tohear from him what You Need Character Co. really is.

CEO Song said, “You Need Character didbegin as an animation company. We made an animation called Cricket Pang gearedtowards children 8 and under.” The poster showed unique characteristics. Itfeatured animal characters, not unlike other animations, but they were holdingwooden bats in their hands. He explained, “As you can tell from the title, thebats they are holding are cricket bats. There are 5 characters, Pang theelephant, Shasha the bunny, Ricky the bird, Oliver the bear, and Cash thesquirrel.”

“Pang the elephant is the main character.The reason why they are holding cricket bats is, I had a chance to go to Indiato participate in a local contents event. As I was trying to think of contentsthat would be popular in India, I thought of cricket and elephants.” In fact,cricket is the most popular sport in India and elephants are very much favoredin India. With these cultural familiarity, Cricket Pang immediately drew manyIndian buyers’ attention.

CEO Song said, “Contents cannot just havepretty designs. They have to be beneficial to children. As Cricket Pang is forchildren 12 and under, we had to consider the educational and emotionalaspects. India is now reaching the point where the Millennials and Gen Zpopulation is becoming the parents of children 12 and under. Classy image,familiar cultural content, and educational aspect, there was no reason to notlike it.”

That is how they came to apply the AR technology. As the demand for the contents increased, the demand for different ways to enjoy the contents also increased. That trend is true especially in the education market. In collaboration with Gyeonggi Content Agency, they are expanding into the education contents market using character IPs, such as creating AR flashcards for English vocabulary featuring Cricket Pang characters.

In short, You Need Character is not merelyan animation company. They are an IP creation company, with a strength incombining customer friendly technologies like AR and VR to develop wellthought-out storytelling contents. CEO Min-su Song said, “Good IP can be usedin limitless capacity. As new technologies and media forms are developed, wewill be able to reach children with Cricket Pang in many different ways.”

After a long preparation period, CricketPang animation will be launching on TV and OTT channels around the world,starting with India early next year. We look forward to the future success ofthe Cricket Pang animation and education contents.